Veganism

Merits and Demerits for Health

A person who simply avoids every product that is directly derived from animals is typically termed as vegan. Although it is certainly a real herculean task for these people to stay aloof from animal products, vegans truly take the pain to do so and scrutinize every single eatable item.

Veganism is a nature of vegetarian diet, which vehemently excludes eggs, meat and even dairy products. A section of vegans also refrain from taking food items that are processed with the help of animal products e.g., a few categories of wine and even refined sugar. Not only this, but vegans also try not to use non-eatable products derived from animal like wool, leather or fur.

Difference between a 'vegan' and a 'vegetarian'?

Experts have pointed out striking differences between a vegan and a vegetarian on account of their dietary habits. The glaring element between them is that while a vegetarian tends to avoid meat products but consume a number of dairy products, even eggs in some cases; a vegan strictly stays away from any food that is directly derived from animals. They even dissociate themselves from animal products like fur, leather, etc. as they believe that animals are not any commodity to be executed and consumed by human beings.

Food habit of a vegan

Under such a circumstance where it is seen that vegans stay away from majority of food that are derived from any animal directly, a pertinent question certainly arises - what do they eat? Well, it is simple to come to any conclusion. They would certainly love to strive on nutrition and food derived from plants. Diet of a vegan includes the following in major percentage:

Beans

Grains

Fruits and vegetables

Legumes

Modern food items also constitute a special category of vegan like vegan mayonnaise, vegan hot dog and cheese.

Keeping all these factors, especially the diet nature of vegans, people might ask whether it is easy to turn up to be a pure vegan or not. As an answer, it might be said that the effort lies in the commitment to follow the rule strictly. There is no hard and fast rule; however, it is necessary to keep the objectives in mind while choosing to become a vegan.

Health benefits of becoming a vegan

A number of studies have revealed some interesting points that vegans enjoy better health benefits in comparison to people who depend on animal products or even both animal and plant products for their sustenance.

In this respect, an important study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The following key features were highlighted as the stunning results of the extensive research study -

Advantages of vegan diet proved fruitful for men in comparison to women;

Within over 70,000 people tracked during the study, around 12% less death was reported in the vegan camp;

Calorie intake amount did not hamper any characteristic feature between vegans and non-vegans

Several flip sides of becoming a vegan

Apart from all these advantages and humanitarian angle of veganism there also lies several crucial factors that strictly pinpoint towards the demerits of being a vegan. These can be described as follows -

Demerits related to issues of health

Although it might seem to be humanitarian to turn a vegan and spare the animals of this world, following veganism for a considerable period would definitely show alarming results on health of human beings.

Being a vegan deprives human beings the most essential elements for maintaining better physical condition. Human beings require the following from animals rather from plants for surviving in good health -

Protein

Animal oil

First of all, the major protein intake of human beings comes from meat and animal diet, not from plants. A vegan would simply cut down the percentage of protein intake, which would trigger massive health issues at a later stage. Loss of protein would mean deteriorated body growth and physical development. The human body is not able to utilize plant protein. On the other hand, it can easily utilize protein from meat.

Secondly, animal oil, especially fatty acids like omega3 from animal meat is highly necessary for development of human brain. Animal oil also helps human to repair wear and tear of tissues. Such essential animal oil is available in rich quantity only from fishes, which a vegan is deprived of.

This is why most vegans have to add supplements to their diet in order to maintain a healthy daily intake.
Usually they don't need Garcinia Cambogia supplements to lose weight, but rather omega-3 and vitamin type supplements that add the vital ingredients that are missing from a Vegan diet.